JEFF EDELSTEIN

When it comes to New Jersey’s marijuana laws, Gov. Chris Christie is trying to have his cake and eat it too, and he’s not even stoned.

But Ed “NJWEEDMAN” Forchion? Well, yeah, he’s stoned, obviously, but it’s not stopping him from pointing out the state’s pot laws seem to be written by a “Catch-22” devotee.

In a nutshell: Marijuana is a Schedule I drug in New Jersey. Under state law, a drug is Schedule I if, among other things, it “has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.”

Well, last I checked, California was part of the United States. Same with Colorado, Arizona, Maine and another 14 states where medical marijuana laws exist. Or course, since January 18, New Jersey is also one of those states that recognizes marijuana as medicine.

So the cake metaphor? It fits. New Jersey has criminal marijuana laws   stating    pot is the worst of the worst when it comes to drugs because it has no accepted medical value, and yet also has another law stating marijuana has oodles of accepted   medical value   .

Forchion has noticed this ridiculousness, and filed a legal brief in Evesham on Friday to challenge it. Why Evesham? It’s the same town where he was arrested last week for holding a pair of joints. He was a passenger in car that had a headlight out. Somehow, he got searched. This is how things go when you’re the Weedman.

 
Full Article:
http://www.trentonian.com/article/20130423/OPINION03/130429887/jeff-edelstein-marijuana-laws-in-nj-under-chris-christie-make-the-weedman-see-double#full_story

By Charlie Brennan Camera Staff Writer

 
Colorado is becoming so alluring to those hoping to cash in on cannabis that even cartoon characters are joining the green stampede.
Zonker Harris, the unrepentant stoner who has lounged around the “Doonesbury” comic strip for roughly four decades, is journeying to Colorado to become a “bajillionaire” marijuana producer, bringing along his underachieving and aimless nephew, Zipper.
In Tuesday’s strip, “Doonesbury” artist/author Garry Trudeau revealed what might be — if their GPS doesn’t fail them — their ultimate destination.
“Uncle Zonk has set his sights on a sweet little grow outside of Boulder!’ Zipper clued in his roommate, Jeff.
“Sounds awesome,” Jeff replied, to which Zipper said, “We’re not chasing the American dream, dude. It’s chasing us!”
 
Full Article:
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_23089287/doonesbury-mainstay-zonker-eyeing-marijuana-grow-outside-boulder

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a longtime resident of the United States from Jamaica who was deported from the United States over possession of a small amount of marijuana.
The justices said in a 7-2 decision that Adrian Moncrieffe should have had the opportunity to contest his deportation.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in her opinion for the court that marijuana offenses must involve either the sale of the drug or possession of more than a small amount to count as serious enough to warrant automatic deportation.
 
Full Article:
http://saratogian.com/articles/2013/04/23/news/doc5176acad3bf8e365192292.txt?viewmode=fullstory

By Kevin McDermott kmcdermott@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8268

 
ST. LOUIS • Marijuana, the most prevalent illicit drug in America, seems to be getting less illicit by the day.
Among recent developments that would have been unfathomable during the “War on Drugs” begun under President Ronald Reagan:
• The states of Colorado and Washington voted last fall to legalize marijuana for recreational use, the first states ever to do so. Though technically still a violation of federal law, the administration of President Barack Obama has responded with a shrug.
• The Illinois House voted last week to join the 18 states that have already legalized marijuana for medical use. The measure now moves to the Senate, which has passed it before. Gov. Pat Quinn has said he is keeping “an open mind.”
• The St. Louis Board of Aldermen voted overwhelmingly last week to establish a citywide marijuana statute that in effect reduces the penalty for minor possession to a traffic-ticket-level offense. Mayor Francis Slay is expected to sign the bill.
It’s not that the drug war is over. But people on both sides of the marijuana issue agree that pot has largely been nudged off the battlefield.
 
Full Article:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/in-the-war-on-drugs-signs-of-truce-with-marijuana/article_6a6dee34-30ec-5f00-ae41-8bf577b55bb9.html

(JOSHUA TRUJILLO / SEATTLEPI.COM)

 
 
Our culture’s great collective marijuana fear was realized last night in Seattle … and nothing happened. No federals. No mayhem. No protests or arrests … no melee … just a carnival like atmosphere with stage shows, games and venders and pot.
Well, okay, a whole heck of a lot of marijuana was vaped and smoked by medical marijuana patients, as well as anyone who brought their own. But other than that, the great 4/20 cannabis free-for-all put on by Dope Magazine last night in the Sodo hood seemed pretty darn harmless.
One Seattle police cruiser (that I saw) came by, gave the area a once over and moved on. Apparently, the other big 4/20 event in Seattle put on by the organizers of Hempfest, went off without a hitch as well.
 
Full Article:
http://blog.seattlepi.com/marijuana/2013/04/21/what-happens-when-you-throw-big-legal-marijuana-party-in-seattle/#11499-9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lmrMOr1qZg

THE CANADIAN PRESS

 
Canadians gathered in cities across the country Saturday — including Robson Square in downtown Vancouver — to mark April 20, an unofficial annual holiday celebrating cannabis culture.
A large crowd rallied on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to promote the legalization of marijuana despite cold weather.
In Montreal, people gathered at the foot of Mount Royal while hundreds turned out for an event in downtown Toronto.
And in Vancouver, hundreds jammed the downtown core to gather around the city’s historic art gallery, the centre of the protest culture in the city.
Police officers could be seen chatting with those in the crowd as the smell of pot wafted for blocks..
Full Article:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/From+Vancouver+Montreal+Canada+going/8273285/story.html

By: Randy Turner

DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Thousands of people attended 4:20 to celebrate cannabis at the legislative building Saturday. Those in attendance cited a recent movement among U.S. states to decriminalize marijuana in Washington and Colorado as progress.
 
Scott Webster was sitting on the lawn of the legislature, about to load up a bowl of orange kush into his pipe.
In fact, the usual residence of provincial lawmakers was going to pot on Sunday afternoon, the gathering place for an annual 4/20 celebration to legalize marijuana, which culminated Saturday at 4:20 p.m.
“It was a lot smaller 10 years ago,” said Webster, referring to the hundreds of mostly teenagers and 20-somethings who milled about the front of the legislature, parked on blankets with bongs and Bob Marley music blaring on loud speakers.
“This is the biggest turnout I’ve ever seen in Winnipeg. The more people that turn out, the more it helps the cause.”
 
Full Article:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/officer-prefers-pot-smokers-to-alcohol-drinkers-203967841.html

MAX NISEN

 
Peter Lewis, left, and his son
 
CEOs tend to be somewhat straight edged types, more given to waking up early and working late than for taking time to relax, or for advocating for something as controversial as the legalization of marijuana.
There have been a few notable and very successful exceptions.
Probably the most outspoken of them is Progressive Corporation’s longtime CEO and now Chairman Peter Lewis. In a 1995 profile on him in Fortune, someone close to him said that “he is a functioning pothead.”
Lewis writes, in an editorial for Forbes:
My story is fairly simple. I grew up after college in a world where social drinking was the norm but marijuana was hidden. When I was 39 I tried marijuana for the first time. I found it to be better than scotch. But it wasn’t until I had serious medical problems that I realised how important marijuana could be.
When I was 64 my left leg was amputated below the knee because there was an infection that couldn’t be cured. I spent a year after the amputation in excruciating pain and a year in a wheelchair. So during that period I was very glad I had marijuana. It didn’t exactly eliminate the pain, but it made the pain tolerable—and it let me avoid those heavy-duty narcotic pain relievers that leave you incapacitated.
His marijuana use didn’t seem to hold him back. He built Progressive from a tiny, 40 person company into one of America’s three largest auto insurers, worth more than $14 billion. He himself is a billionaire, worth an estimated $1.2 billion.
Beyond his personal use, Lewis is among the biggest donors in the world to organisations that support marijuana legalization. The National organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws(NORML) estimates that he’s spent $40 to $60 million on the cause.
His advocacy comes because “our marijuana laws are outdated, ineffective and stupid,” Lewis writes in Forbes.
 
Full Article:
http://au.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-most-pot-friendly-ceos-2013-4